What happens when an animal rights activist armed with a video camera goes into fur salons and tells the employees that animals are sometimes skinned alive for their fur? Watch this video to find out:

For the impatient among you, fast-forward to 5:20 to see the, ahem, fur really start to fly.

If you haven't already done so, post a link to PETA's Chinese fur farm investigation footage (the impetus for the fur salon ambush) on your Facebook page. 'Tis the season for giving people a reason to scratch fur off their Christmas lists.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Do you know somebody who's thinking about adding a Hermes crocodile-skin bag or a pair of Alexander McQueen snakeskin pumps to their Christmas wish list? If so, the graphic pictures below will probably have them sending Santa a plea for a Matt & Nat bag or a pair of MooShoes instead.

Whether your bag, shoe, or jacket was made from exotic skins or sexy synthetics means the difference between life or death for animals. Snakes and alligators who are stripped of their skin are usually caught in the wild, often illegally, and their skin is ripped from their bodies while they are still alive. Because they are cold-blooded animals, they can suffer for hours or even days before they die.

If you need more proof that reptiles suffer when they are exploited for fashion, check this out.

Written by Shawna Flavell

As an obsessed fan of The Biggest Loser, I just about jumped out off the couch last night when America's toughest trainer Jillian Michaels walked onscreen wearing PETA's ever popular "Fight Breedism" T-shirt.

For the whole first half of the show, while the contestants were filming in Washington D.C., Jillian rocked the compassionate message across her perfect abs—even during the workout! Jillian is one of the most inspirational women on television and knowing that she is fighting against obesity and animal homelessness rocks my world!

My Jillian-mania escalated to even greater higher heights when she took the winners of the challenge to Subway for lunch and told the crowd that she recommends the vegetarian sub because it's her favorite. Fellow trainer Bob Harper is already vegetarian, so I'm beginning to see a pattern here … no wonder they look so good.

Written by Christine Doré

A tree grows in Brooklyn … actually, many of them do. And from one of those trees, a pigeon dangled upside down from a piece of string that was caught around her leg and tangled on a tree branch two stories above a busy sidewalk, beside a busy street.

When a caring Brooklynite contacted PETA, the bird had already hung from that tree for days without food or water, surely full of panic and fear.

But luckily there are people—such as the Brooklynite who contacted us—who care enough to take action.

Local animal control agents lacked the equipment necessary to rescue the pigeon, but they referred our cruelty caseworker to the local fire department, which dispatched a truck minutes after PETA's call came in. Firefighters drove by to survey the situation and returned in a truck with a tall ladder, which they climbed to reach the bird.

The caller was on-site, and when firefighters handed her the pigeon—whose wounds were infested with maggots—she rushed the bird to a local veterinarian. Immediately realizing that the pigeon's back was broken, the vet was able to quickly release her from her suffering.

The anguish that pigeon endured during those days is almost incomprehensible. Hanging upside down with a broken back and suffering from extreme starvation and dehydration as maggots infested her open wounds, she must have been in severe pain. Had those caring persons—the caller, the cruelty caseworker, firefighters, and the vet—not stepped in to take action, who knows how long her suffering would have continued?

We've said it before, but it bears repeating: Please always be a person who helps an animal in need. You might be the first to take action, but if you reach out to others, you'll likely find people who care as much as you do.

Written by Karin Bennett